Swiss Open: Nehwal, Kashyap crash out; Praneeth, Sourabh advance to second round

Basel [Switzerland], March 4 (ANI): Ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap had a humiliating start as they crashed out of the Swiss Open in the first round on Wednesday (local time).
Young prodigies Sai Praneeth, Sourabh Verma and Ajay Jayaram advanced to the second round of the tournament after winning their respective games in the opening round.
Olympic medalist Nehwal lost in a tough-fought clash against Thailand's Phittayaporn Chaiwan 16-21, 21-17, 21-23 that lasted for 58 minutes.
While Nehwal's husband Kashyap lost to lower-ranked Pablo Abian of Spain 15-21, 10-21 in straight games.
Praneeth outclassed Isreal's Misha Zilberman 21-11,21-14 in just 34 minutes to progress to the next round of the competition.
Verma won against Switzerland's Christian Kirchmayr 21-19 21-18 in his first-round clash. He faces eight seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the Round of 16. Ajay Jayaram defeated Sitthikom Thammasin of Thailand 21-12 21-13 to enter the Round of 16 where he will face third seed Rasmus Gemke of Denmark.
Earlier, PV Sindhu got off to a winning start in the Swiss Open as she defeated Neslihan Yigit of Turkey. Sindhu secured a 21-16, 21-19 win over Yigit in the match to progress to the second round.
Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty started their campaign on a high as they outclassed Scottish pair Christopher Grimley and Matthew Grimley in the first round of the Swiss Open.
Also, Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth defeated compatriot Sameer Verma in the first round of the ongoing Swiss Open here on Wednesday. Srikanth secured an 18-21, 21-18, 21-11 win over Verma to progress to the next round of the tournament.
However, HS Prannoy crashed out of the tournament after losing to Dutch badminton player Mark Caljouw 21-19, 9-21, 21-17. (ANI)